His own worst enemy
Matthew d'Ancona 10:28am
There is a must-read piece in the Mail on Sunday by the impeccably connected Sue Cameron, who provides a compelling inventory of the Brown administration's dysfunctions.
My favourite detail - so rich in irony - is that Number Ten is frustrated by the poor flow of information from the Treasury, and that the PM's aides were especially furious that details of the changes to capital gains tax were settled without reference to them.
The reason? Habit. During the Blair-Brown years, the Treasury's entire culture was founded on the principle that its officials kept Number Ten in the dark until absolutely necessary.
'We don't normally tell No 10 what we're doing,' according to one senior official quoted in the article. 'We haven't been telling them for the past ten years.'
In this case, to know his enemy Gordon need only look in the mirror.
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Comments
Max Kaye
April 13th, 2008 10:48amIronic indeed.
What concerns me, however, is that some people still refer to Brown as " ...a man of immense ability" when he patently isn't.
This is also covered by The Mail in the article Gordon's 'Granita moment': No 10 promised to Ed Balls.
Perry
April 13th, 2008 11:46amDelicious chickens . . . coming home to roost! There are many more on the wing.
But pity the poor ordinary mortals caught up in this and other debacles, originated by this controlling twerp and his buddies.
KB
April 13th, 2008 1:09pmThe bit about Brown's not knowing about the CGT changes is pure spin. Darling couldn't have slipped a comma into the budget without his say so.
London
April 13th, 2008 9:15pmHoist by his own petard
EyeSee
April 14th, 2008 12:53pm(London) We ought to have a national competition for the right to insert the petard. Anyway, the thing I find truly amazing is the damage done to ordinary folk whilst our modern breed of politicians wander about, in their own world, totally detached. Brown isn't fighting to save the economy, or as Chancellor, to dole out social equality as a good Marxist. He was and is concerned solely by how he is presented as a leader, a clever man, a visionary, whatever, by the organ of the media.
The Laughing Cavalier
April 14th, 2008 3:53pmHis own worst enemey? Not while I and countless like me are alive.